An Ikeja High Court in Lagos State has awarded the sum of five million naira damages against a Nigerian singer, Ikuforijimi Olaitan Abdulrahman, AKA, Oxlade.
The damaged fee was linked to a leaked s3x tape involving the singer and a woman only identified as John Blessing on social media.
In a judgement delivered on the 24th of January, 2023, Justice Olalekan Oresanya described the act of the musician secretly recording having sex with a woman as “despicable, horrendous, classless and distasteful.”
Oxlade’s s3x video, according to claims, surfaced on social media without the woman’s consent.
The leaked tape had sparked outrage and forced Oxlade to tender a public apology to the woman involved and his fans.
Blessing had, in March 2022, filed a suit before the Court seeking twenty million damages and a declaration that the singer reecorded his explicit sexual acts without her knowledge.
The act was equal to a violation of her fundamental rights to dignity, privacy, and freedom from discrimination guaranteed under Sections 34 and 37 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended); and Articles 5 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (Ratification and Enforcement), Act, CAP A9, LFN, 2004.
Justice Oresanya also berated the singer for treating the judicial process with disrespect and accused his counsel of aiding him in desecrating the temple of justice.
The judge, having entered the Terms of Settlement dated 11th of January, 2023, ordered Oxlade to pay the sum to Blessing in two instalments of three million and two million naira respectively.
The Judge said:
“The respondent failed to appear in this court and the only reason given for the respondent’s absence by his erstwhile counsel was the celebrity status of the respondent, which to my mind cannot be equated to that of many notable celebrity artistes in this country who have comported themselves well respectably both within and outside of this country.
“Counsel, as ministers in the temple of justice, should never encourage any party to a lawsuit or client in treating the temple of justice with disrespect and disdain no matter the status of the client in the society.
“By the consent judgement, Oxlade is to pay damages to the tune of N5m to the claimant in two instalments of N2m and N3m respectively.”
